Pope Francis On Meeting Rohingya Refugees: 'I Wept'

After facing criticism for not speaking out against Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims during his visit to the Southeast Asian country last week, Pope Francis defended his silence on Saturday, saying he’d spoken privately about the humanitarian crisis with the nation’s leaders and that he believed a more direct approach would have backfired.

The pontiff, who spent four days in Myanmar last week, had been widely lambasted for not using the term “Rohingya” even once during his visit to the country, which doesn’t officially recognize the ethnic group as lawful citizens.

The usually candid pope instead chose to share more generic messages of unity during his visit, telling faith leaders in Yangon on Tuesday that “religious differences need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nation building.”

Speaking to reporters during his return flight to the Vatican on Saturday, following a two-day stop in Bangladesh, Francis defended his decision to skirt the Rohingya issue during his public appearances in Myanmar.

“If I had used the word [‘Rohingya’] during an official speech, I would have slammed the door,” he said.

The pontiff added that he’d spoken more openly about the issue in private with Myanmar’s leaders, saying he was “very, very satisfied” with his meetings with the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi ― a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has herself been slammed for not standing up for the Rohingya ― and the country’s military chief, General Min Aung Hlaing.

“It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable,” Francis said of the meetings, according to Reuters. “For me, the most important thing is that the message gets through.”

Pope Francis may not have addressed the Rohingya crisis directly during his time in Myanmar, but it was a different story once he got to neighboring Bangladesh ― which has seen an influx of more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees since August.

“In the name of everyone, of those who persecute you, of those who’ve done you wrong, above all, the world’s indifference, I ask you for forgiveness,” he said in an emotional speech. “I now appeal to your big heart, that you’re able to grant us the forgiveness we seek.”